


if you find yourself (caught in love)

by jinxfabray



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, figure skater jongdae meets hockey player minseok, minseok is impressed by jongdae's sparkly tights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-08 02:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14095383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinxfabray/pseuds/jinxfabray
Summary: jongin thinks jongdae might have a fan. jongdae thinks otherwise.





	if you find yourself (caught in love)

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO this is me filling prompt #121, i hope the prompter likes this despite my absolute ignorance on the subject, i swear i tried my best!!

**** Jongdae was ready to go home at six, and now it’s eight pm and he can’t feel his legs anymore, but he finally pulled off the move that seemed impossible and he’s ecstatic. Practice just ended, and he's watching Jongin untie his skates because he can't bring himself to move enough to do that himself just yet, when he spots him.

They usually have the rink to themselves until around half past eight, because hockey practice doesn't start until nine and the players don't tend to show up early, but now and then one of them pops up unexpectedly. This one player in particular though, Jongdae's seen a couple of times already.

"Your secret admirer is here," Jongin teases him, and Jongdae would reach out to pinch him but he's just too tired to do anything but roll his eyes at him.

"Don't be stupid," he says, sighing and finally gathering the strength to kneel down and get out of his own skates. 

Even if he does think Jongin is seeing things, Jongdae can't deny the fact that it kind of feels like this guy stares at him a little while he's on the rink. He got here too late this time, but last Thursday he'd dropped by when Jongdae was still twirling around and he'd definitely been looking at him rather intensely. Maybe he's just trying to learn new moves that will help him during games or something. It would make more sense than for him to be there just to check Jongdae out or something.

"Now you're the one staring," Jongin says, snapping him out of his trance, and Jongdae realizes that he was indeed looking right in the guy's direction. He doesn't seem deterred though, since he's looking right back at him.

"Huh," Jongdae says, raising an eyebrow at the guy. It makes him crack a smile, and Jongdae regrets this entire interaction because he knew the guy was handsome but now he also knows he's got a terribly cute smile and he's gonna trip all over himself next time he catches him watching him skate.

Jongin laughs at him when Jongdae does indeed trip all over himself just walking into the lockers because he was too busy making eye contact with the hockey player, but the latter just smiles wider, making his eyes crinkle, and it makes Jongdae forget about wanting to slap Jongin on the back of his head.

  
  
  
  
  


There's food on the table when Minseok gets home from practice, and it's still steamy, which makes his heart flutter with joy and eternal gratitude to his roommate. Yoona has always been a good person to live with, but her majoring in cooking has improved Minseok's life significantly because there's always leftover food at home, and she's nice enough to heat things up for him when she knows he'll be home late. 

He would cook more often, if he wasn't busy every second of his life. Balancing a part time job, his classes and hockey practice was hard enough without him choosing to spend the precious free half hour he has between his last class and practice in showing up early just to be a creep. In his defense, he didn't do it on purpose -- at first. He'd just forgotten there was ice skating before their practice and had shown up early once just to try and squeeze in some extra training before an important match, but instead of an empty ice rink, he'd found a boy in tight, glittery spandex, doing things with his body Minseok couldn't have ever imagined. 

He's been fucked since that day, really, because he hasn't been able to stop thinking about him ever since, and the next time he hadn't even thought about it before leaving for practice a little bit earlier, and then even earlier the time after that. Kim Jongdae's stealing his free time from him, and Minseok can't bring himself to be mad about it.

He asked around about him rather shamelessly, which was rare for him but he just needed to know more, and every little thing he managed to learn about Jongdae just made him more infatuated with the skater. Everyone who knows him seems to love him, and when Minseok asked Chanyeol, the guy who rented skates, he was forced to listen to a twenty minute rant about how rare it was to find a guy as kind and funny as Kim Jongdae. 

So Jongdae isn't just a pretty face but he also has a heart of gold, and, well. A very nice ass. Minseok would have to be blind not to have noticed, especially when he was bending over so much in those sparkly tights.

Sitting on the couch with his bowl of hot food, Minseok closes his eyes for a second, rubbing at them with his free hand. He knows Jongdae's definitely identified him now, so maybe it's time for him to actually make a move, since continuing to stare now would just make him look creepy. 

At some point before falling asleep, he decides next time he catches him on the rink, he’ll ask him out. The time has come, and he must be brave for once.

  
  
  
  


"Fuck," Jongdae groans, rolling on his back and taking a second to just lie on the ground and reflect upon his life choices. He hit the ice with his knee in a nasty way, and it hurts like a bitch. It isn't too bad, but he isn't gonna be able to get any more practice done today, that much is obvious. 

"Come on," Jongin says from above, his hand appearing right over Jongdae's face. He let him helps him back on his feet, wincing as he accidentally puts too much weight on his injured knee. "You're gonna be benched, as your sporty boyfriend would say," Jongin laughs, earning a glare from Jongdae who would've nudged him if he didn't depend on him to get out of the rink.

Predictably though, his so-called fan (whose name, Chanyeol helpfully and out of nowhere informed him earlier today, is Kim Minseok) is there when he gets to the benches, looking awfully concerned for someone who's never even talked to Jongdae. Jongdae gives him an apologetic smile, feeling bad for having worried him needlessly, and that's all he's willing to do, but Jongin seems to have other plans, waving at Minseok like they're old friends.

"Don't worry, he's fine," Jongin says, Jongdae turning a deep shade of red by his side as Jongin leads them straight to where Minseok is rather than to the nice bench Jongdae was looking forward to rest on. 

"Oh, that's good to know," Minseok laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his head in a clear sign of how uncomfortable he is to have them standing there. Jongdae steps on Jongin's foot, but all it does is bring him more pain. "It looked like it hurt," he says, now looking at Jongdae, and Jongdae can feel the words getting stuck in his throat.

"Uh," he starts, glancing at Jongin for support. "It's fine, I've got Jongin here to look after me anyway, and he's suffered more injuries than any human being should be able to survive, so  he's an amazing nurse," Jongdae manages to say, feeling like he's averted the crisis.

"Oh," Minseok nods looking back and forth between the two of them. "Well, I hope you get better soon," he said slowly, as if he was coming to some sort of epiphany that Jongdae couldn't understand. Maybe he'd finally realized ice skating was as dangerous as hockey and definitely not a good choice if what he was looking for was something where he was less likely to injure himself. 

"Thanks," Jongdae smiled, eyes crinkling.

"Hey," Jongin interrupted, right when Minseok seemed to be about to walk away, because of course he wouldn't just let them get out of this uncomfortable situation. "We should hang out sometime," he said, grinning his dumb puppy smile that made Jongdae want to kick him. No one said no to Jongin when he had that face on. "Like, the hockey team, and us, since we share the ice rink but we don't really know each other that much?" 

In the back of his mind, Jongdae imagines a thousand scenarios in which he kicks Jongin down and magically doesn’t follow right after, but he sadly needs him to go sit down so instead he just glares a hole through his skull, or attempts to.

“Sure,” Minseok says, but he doesn’t look sure at all, eyes still darting between the both of them. “That’d be fun.”

“How about tonight? Wait, no, that’s not gonna work, Jongdae should rest up -- next week?” Jongin offers with a bright smile, and something in Jongdae’s brain finally clicks when he sees Minseok nodding. He’s someone’s secret admirer for sure, but maybe a little too secret.

“Next week sounds great, I’ll let the boys know,” Minseok grins, and god, of course now that he’s realized he’s here to make eyes at Jongin, Jongdae can look at him without feeling like he’s about to die and he can’t help but notice he’s actually quite cute. Very cute. Ridiculously so. 

“See you soon, hyung,” Jongin waves when he leaves, walking backwards so he can wave back at them, and Jongdae’s ready to die. He’s gonna have to go out with him now, Jongin will probably try to push them together and -- he can already feel how this will end. He’ll get a crush on someone who’s got a crush on Jongin. Again. Story of his life, really.

(He kicks Jongin on the ankle when he’s finally put him down on the bench, for being so pretty.)

  
  
  
  


The only way to make dinner with Minseok’s _boys_ , Jongdae figures, is to get wasted as fast as he can. They go to a Chinese place that Jongin adores, and even though Jongdae tries to sit further away, he ends up right between his friend and Minseok. Jongin’s got the other two skaters on his corner of the table, and though both Qian and Soojung are perfectly nice, Jongdae has never felt all that comfortable around them. Qian’s always been a little intimidating, and she’s always got a sharp observation to make about his last figure or whatever that leaves him itching to go back to the rink and practice some more, and it’s not the right time for that. Soojung -- well, after Jongdae confessed his crush on her a couple years ago and she confessed her own crush on Jongin with an apologetic smile, things turned awkward and then they just never went back to normal.

Luckily for him, sitting across from him is Chanyeol, who Jongdae can talk to easily, so he does his best to focus on him, pretending like he can’t feel Minseok’s eyes on him as he probably tries to catch Jongin’s attention. After a while though, he figures he might give him a shot and makes up some lame excuse about needing air to go outside. 

He doesn’t expect Jongin to follow him, and he sighs heavily when he sees him.

“Dude, you can’t just ask people out for dinner and then leave,” Jongdae rolls his eyes, like Jongin is somehow responsible for everyone who showed up today and should be inside playing host.

“You alright?” Jongin asks, ignoring him blatantly as he leans sideways against the wall, inspecting his face. “I thought you’d be glad to get a chance to talk to Minseok, hyung, and it’s not like I forced you into a closet and claimed seven minutes in heaven time -- there’s plenty of people around you, it’s a perfect setting.”

Jongin is so good to him, and Jongdae knows he has no idea about the Soojung situation, just like he has no idea about what’s happening now either. He can’t be blamed at all for any of this, but Jongin is always willing to take responsibility for things so he doesn’t know how to explain it without him blaming himself regardless. 

“I don’t know, I still get shy,” he ends up saying, shrugging his shoulders, and something in his face might be giving away how there’s more to it because it earns him an unexpected hug from Jongin.

“You gotta be more confident, hyung, you’re a good looking guy with a great heart and an even better ass,” Jongin says into his hair, making Jongdae laugh and try to slap him away though he fails, stuck in his embrace.

“Guys? Everything alright?” a hesitant voice says, and Jongdae finally manages to get his head out of Jongin’s loving headlock, eyes landing on Minseok who’s staring at them like something is horribly wrong. For a moment, Jongdae fears Chanyeol might have set the place on fire or something, but then he realizes what this scene must look like and he gets it.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, I was just feeling a little under the weather,” Jongdae lies easily, putting some distance between him and Jongin. “I might actually head home, if that’s alright?”

“Really?” Jongin and Minseok ask in unison, making Jongin chuckle. “Alright then,” Jongin shrugs, stepping back inside without much hesitation. It’s suspicious, to say the least, and Jongdae takes the chance to glare at his back while he can’t see. 

“Are you alright to go home on your own, with your knee and all?” Minseok asks, tilting his head a little. Jongdae had almost forgotten about his knee by now, but he does make a good point. “I could walk you,” he offers, and Jongdae is too tired to say no at this point.

“Okay, sure, if you don’t mind,” he says, not feeling as bad as he would if he was ruining Minseok’s chances with Jongin, but he doesn’t have anything to be ruined, and Jongdae shouldn’t go all the way by himself when his knee is still a bit fragile.

Minseok grins at him, and Jongdae should just call a taxi before he lets him steal another piece of his heart, but it might be too late for that, so he shoves his hands in his pockets and starts walking.

  
  
  
  


He’s been whining about it for at least fifteen minutes, but Yoona’s friends are nice and have put up with Minseok for years now, so he doesn’t feel all that bad about it. He tries to be supportive when they come with their emotional dramas too, but the truth is, theirs are always easier to fix since they all seem to be into having healthy relationships and communicating their feelings and other things Minseok cannot wrap his head around.

He’s retelling the story because Yoona’s girlfriend arrived late and she demanded she should be up to date with everything if she was gonna provide him with any sort of advice, when Hyoyeon interrupts him from the kitchen.

“Wait, who’s the guy again, the one you say is dating the love of your life?” she asks, coming into the dining room with her hands wet from having helped Yoona do the dishes. Minseok wants to say something about how she’s getting water all over everything, but that can wait if she has information on the subject. 

“Jongin? Kim Jongin?” he says slowly, and it’s impossible to miss the glance between her and Yuri, like they know him.

“Tall, graceful, incredible thighs?” Yuri asks, pretending she doesn’t see Yoona raise her eyebrows at the admiration in her tone. Minseok nods, and they both giggle, making him nervous already. “You have nothing to worry about, that kid’s been dating the lanky tall dancer for like, years, honestly -- I think they might have been high school sweethearts and everything, him and Sehun, and he came pick him up from rehearsal last night so there’s no way he’s dating this friend of yours. He could be two timing them, but honestly, with how hard they work I don’t think he has the time to do such a thing.”

It’s such a tiny piece of information, and yet it’s enough to turn his entire world upside down. So maybe Jongdae and Jongin are just close like brothers are, after practicing together for so long, and maybe Jongin wasn’t being protective over his boyfriend when he invited Minseok to hang out with them. If he wasn’t hitting on him either -- then Minseok has no idea what he asked him out for. 

All he knows for sure is walking Jongdae home the night before had been the highlight of his week, and if he really isn’t taken, then it’s probably time for him to stop speculating so much and just go for it.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


What happens is that Jongdae’s knee injury doesn’t get better as fast as it should, and for a couple of days, Minseok doesn’t see him at practice. It does little to discourage him though, and by the fourth day, he’s ready to march up to Jongin and ask for his number when he sees Jongdae sitting by the rink, dressed in casual clothes, less glittery and definitely less tight than his usual.

“Hey,” he says, dropping down on the floor next to him. Jongin is twirling like a graceful swan out there, but Minseok barely notices him. “How’s your knee?”

“Fine,” Jongdae says, instinctively reaching to touch it gently, tapping it softly. “Still hurts a little, especially when it rains.”

“Must be tough,” Minseok says for lack of anything better to comment, and Jongdae snorts.

“It is, yeah,” he sighs, staring at the rink for another while until he finally looks back at Minseok. “Jongin’s doing well today, at least.”

“Why are you here if you can’t skate? Shouldn’t you be at home, resting?” Minseok asks, eyes fixed on him.

“I get bored at home,” Jongdae shrugs, looking down because eye contact is too intense. Something about having spent that one night after dinner talking outside his apartment until three am shifted some sort of balance between them, tipped the scales, made the ground uneven so now Jongdae feels himself rolling towards Minseok, unable to stop.

“Well, next time you’re bored at home, you should give me a call,” Minseok says, pulling out his phone from his pocket in what’s probably the most obvious, and yet most overdue move he could have pulled. “We can do something fun, instead of you sitting here and suffering in silence.”

Jongdae chuckles quietly as he types his number into Minseok’s phone, handing it back with a smile.

“You’re a really nice guy, you know,” Jongdae says conversationally, as if it’s a normal small talk topic, and Minseok blushes a furious shade of red. “Offering to keep me company like your schedule isn’t so tightly packed you probably have to pencil in your bathroom breaks and everything.”

“I wouldn’t mind going off schedule if it was for you,” Minseok says, using all of the bravery he’d been pretending he didn’t have inside him up until now in just one sentence, leaving him with nothing to hold onto when he has to add the key phrase. Still, one look at Jongdae’s tentative smile and he’s ready. “I really like you, Kim Jongdae, in case my constant coming over and staring wistfully from a distance hasn’t given me away yet.”

It’s Jongdae’s turn to blush, though he’s more subtle about it.

“I kinda thought you might be doing that because of Jongin,” he says quietly and with an innocent tone, but the way he looks up at Minseok from under his ridiculously long eyelashes is anything but innocent. If he did figure it out just now, he’s sure as hell adapting fast. “But that night you walked me home -- kinda made me change my mind, and instead I started to hope it was because of me.”

It doesn’t take a lot for Minseok to close the gap between them since he’d been scooting up closer while Jongdae spoke already, and kissing Jongdae feels easy, like they could have started doing this months ago and it would have worked out just as well.

“I really like you too, you know,” Jongdae says once he pulls away after a short kiss, staying close like he’s not quite done with Minseok just yet. “Though I’m also a bit disappointed because at one point I thought you might be coming here because you wanted to give figure skating a shot and honestly? It’s a bit of a shame that I won’t get to see you in sparkly tights.”

It nearly makes Minseok choke on his own spit, but he manages to breathe through it, swatting at Jongdae’s elbow.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t look half as good as you do, only people with butts like yours should wear those,” he says, eyeing Jongdae’s behind with so much longing it makes Jongdae burst into laughter. “Maybe if you promised not to laugh, I would try them on for you, since you’re so curious.”

“I have faith you might look at least three quarters as good as I do,” Jongdae laughs, this time moving away right on time when Minseok tries to hit him, swerving and landing him a kiss on the cheek instead. “I promise not to laugh, cross my heart,” Jongdae adds, making the hand gesture over his chest, and he looks so undeniably cute doing that, Minseok can’t help but lean in and meet his lips again with a soft kiss.

“When your knee is better, you can show me a thing or two about figure skating, how does that sound?”

“As long as we have plenty of dates away from the rink, it sounds great to me,” Jongdae laughs softly. “I think we need to be away from Jongin’s watch for a while, we stressed him out with our comings and goings.”

Minseok looks to the rink in the direction Jongdae is shooting an apologetic look, and finds Jongin grinning at them like it’s the best day of his life.

“Alright then,” Minseok nods, “date night away from the rink and the sparkly glitter spandex it is, I’ll text you?”

“I cannot wait,” Jongdae grins, and for once, Minseok thinks he may have found something worthy of him ignoring his schedule for.

  
  
  
  



End file.
